Lauer - H.R. Boss / Banned

Lauer - H.R. Boss / Banned
There is normally a clear distinction to be made between a producer and a musician, though that's not the case with Phillip Lauer. His records are always crisply assembled and teem with all the melodic intricacies of a genuine tunesmith. The drawback is they're uniform: for a man with a wealth of projects (Arto Mwambe, Tuff City Kids, Brontosaurus, Filiberto Marmelade), the polite retro-house sound-bank is a ubiquitous presence. But that, in turn, leaves the Frankfurter free to hone his beloved tunes, the range of which can make up for the sonic similitude.

The two sides of this record are typical accounts of what Lauer does best. Different frequencies are so neatly slotted together it appears even the percussion is in on the harmony coolly dispensed by the polyphonic elements. This moves from the sugar-coated ("H.R. Boss") to the sweaty ("Banned") and becomes more palatable as it does so. (Not that the A-side isn't just lovely, but you need a sweet-tooth and perhaps a bottle of white wine. The bass-heavy statement on the B-side is the choice here.) Both taking around nine minutes to work their melodic arch, they also attest to what can sometimes be slightly frustrating about Lauer: he's onto a good thing, perhaps too much of one.